After a report by the apex court-appointed panel pointed out the serious situation posed by the stray dog menace in Kerala, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that compassion aside, the situation has to be controlled.
Compassion should be shown towards stray dogs but at the same time, these animals cannot be allowed to become a menace to the society. A balance needs to be created for dealing with such a situation.Supreme Court Bench
A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit said it would hear in detail the implementation framework for controlling street dog population and other measures filed by the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), the lead petitioner in the case.
The revised module contains procedures prescribed in the Animal Birth Control (Dogs) Rules 2001, framed under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, for eradicating the threat of rabies and reducing man-dog conflict, according to AWBI.
The board suggested the bench that a Central Coordination Committee with representation from various union ministries should be set up to implement these measures.
Sundaram added that state-level coordination committees, in addition to the district- level animal birth control monitoring committees provided for in the Animal Birth Control Rules, should be established.
The bench, which was hearing a bunch of petitions filed by various NGOs and individual petitioners, posted the matter for further hearing on 4 October and said it would also consider a petition challenging the constitutional validity of Animal Birth Control Rules.
Stray Dog Menace in Kerala
The apex court-appointed panel headed by former Kerala High Court judge Justice SS Jagan said that more than one lakh people in Kerala have been bitten by dogs in 2015-16. Their report warned that frequent stray dog attacks on children there has created a dangerous situation.
On 5 April, the apex court had appointed the committee to look into the aspect of treatment of people bitten by stray dogs in Kerala and the claims of compensation. Some NGOs and individual petitioners have moved the apex court against the decisions of some high courts, including the Bombay High Court and the Kerala High Court, to allow municipal authorities to deal with the stray dogs menace as per the rules.